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Legislative Histories
U.S. Legislation
What is a Legislative History and How is it Used?
What Documents Make up a Federal Legislative History?
What Steps Do I Take in Compiling a Federal Legislative History?
U.S. Legislation: how bills are made, tracking bills
What is a Legislative History and How is it Used?
A legislative history is the documentation produced by Congress on the background and events leading up to the enactment of a law. Legislative history is used to determine the intent of the legislators in passing a particular statute. When a question arises concerning the applicability or interpretation of a statute, a legislative history can be compiled or consulted to better understand the reasons for the enactment of that statute.
Legislative histories may be compiled by commercial publishers or, sometimes, by Congress itself for important legislation or in a particular subject area. For instance, the House Committee on Education and Labor compiled a legislative history of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many times you will need to compile the legislative history of an act yourself. What Documents Make up a Federal Legislative History?
A legislative history includes documentation from all the steps in the law making process. Different documents have varying degrees of weight in showing congressional intent.
Bills and amendments . As introduced, reported on, and acted upon by either or both houses, a bill provides information on the original intent and language of its sponsor as well as evidence of deliberate exclusions and inclusions in the bill. Bills are numbered consecutively for the two sessions of each Congress.
Hearings . These are transcripts of the testimony of witnesses before House and Senate Committees. Hearings can be used to illustrate that certain issues and considerations were made known to Congress through the hearing process. Hearings are an early step in the legislative process. Hearings are not held for all bills. Neither are all hearings published. For those which are published, there can often be a lengthy delay before publication. Some information from hearings is available electronically, but this is usually only the pre submitted statements, not the verbal questions and answers from the hearing.
Committee Prints . Prepared for the use of a given committee, committee prints can be research studies, compilations of materials or statutes, legislative histories, background information, or working drafts of a bill. Committee prints are not automatically published or distributed.
Committee Reports . The committee's communication to Congress explains the purpose of the bill and contains the committee's explanations of and recommendations on the bill. Reports may be issued by House, Senate, and Conference Committees, and are numbered consecutively for each Congress and for each house.
Debates . These include all activities which occur on the floor of the two houses of Congress. While individual comments during debates are not proof of congressional intent, statements by the bill's sponsor or chairman of the committee reporting the bill, especially those with the stated intention of clarifying or explaining the bill, can have significant weight.
Presidential Messages . Delivered to Congress, these explain the reasons for suggesting, signing, or vetoing legislation. While only indirect evidence of congressional intent, they often provide helpful background information about the proposed legislation. What Steps Do I Take in Compiling a Federal Legislative History?
1. If a law has been enacted, check to see if a legislative history has already been compiled.
2. If no law has been enacted, first locate the bill number.
3. Determine what significant actions have been taken on the bill.
4. Identify citations to: * committee reports (House, Senate, and Conference)
* hearings held on the bill in the considering Congress, or on the same topic in previous Congresses
* congressional floor action on the bill including debates, floor amendments, and votes
* presidential messages relating to the bill/act 5. Locate the documents themselves.
A legislative history is the documentation produced by Congress on the background and events leading up to the enactment of a law. Legislative history is used to determine the intent of the legislators in passing a particular statute. When a question arises concerning the applicability or interpretation of a statute, a legislative history can be compiled or consulted to better understand the reasons for the enactment of that statute.
Legislative histories may be compiled by commercial publishers or, sometimes, by Congress itself for important legislation or in a particular subject area. For instance, the House Committee on Education and Labor compiled a legislative history of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many times you will need to compile the legislative history of an act yourself. What Documents Make up a Federal Legislative History?
A legislative history includes documentation from all the steps in the law making process. Different documents have varying degrees of weight in showing congressional intent.
Bills and amendments . As introduced, reported on, and acted upon by either or both houses, a bill provides information on the original intent and language of its sponsor as well as evidence of deliberate exclusions and inclusions in the bill. Bills are numbered consecutively for the two sessions of each Congress.
Hearings . These are transcripts of the testimony of witnesses before House and Senate Committees. Hearings can be used to illustrate that certain issues and considerations were made known to Congress through the hearing process. Hearings are an early step in the legislative process. Hearings are not held for all bills. Neither are all hearings published. For those which are published, there can often be a lengthy delay before publication. Some information from hearings is available electronically, but this is usually only the pre submitted statements, not the verbal questions and answers from the hearing.
Committee Prints . Prepared for the use of a given committee, committee prints can be research studies, compilations of materials or statutes, legislative histories, background information, or working drafts of a bill. Committee prints are not automatically published or distributed.
Committee Reports . The committee's communication to Congress explains the purpose of the bill and contains the committee's explanations of and recommendations on the bill. Reports may be issued by House, Senate, and Conference Committees, and are numbered consecutively for each Congress and for each house.
Debates . These include all activities which occur on the floor of the two houses of Congress. While individual comments during debates are not proof of congressional intent, statements by the bill's sponsor or chairman of the committee reporting the bill, especially those with the stated intention of clarifying or explaining the bill, can have significant weight.
Presidential Messages . Delivered to Congress, these explain the reasons for suggesting, signing, or vetoing legislation. While only indirect evidence of congressional intent, they often provide helpful background information about the proposed legislation. What Steps Do I Take in Compiling a Federal Legislative History?
1. If a law has been enacted, check to see if a legislative history has already been compiled.
2. If no law has been enacted, first locate the bill number.
3. Determine what significant actions have been taken on the bill.
4. Identify citations to: * committee reports (House, Senate, and Conference)
* hearings held on the bill in the considering Congress, or on the same topic in previous Congresses
* congressional floor action on the bill including debates, floor amendments, and votes
* presidential messages relating to the bill/act 5. Locate the documents themselves.
How To Find.. |
Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications CIS Annual Congressional USCCAN U.S. Statutes at Large |
Legislative Histories |
Randall Library Catalog GPO Access WorldCat LexisNexis Congressional - Laws |
| Digest of Public General Bills
Congressional Record Index-History of Bills and Resolutions
CIS Annual House Bills (Y 1.4/6) Senate Bills (Y 1.4/1) Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report |
Bills and Amendments |
GPO Access
Thomas LexisNexis Congressional -- Bills American Memory -- A Century of Lawmaking |
| House & Senate Hearings (Y 4 )
USCCAN
CIS Annual U.S. Serial Set Senate Reports (Y 1.1/5) House Reports (Y 1.1/8) Senate Documents (Y 1.1/3) House Documents (Y 1.1/7) Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789-1946 |
Committee Action |
LexisNexis Congressional
-- Committee Prints
Thomas GPO Access American Memory - A Century of Lawmaking |
| Congressional Record
USCCAN |
Congressional Debate |
LexisNexis Congressional --
Congressional Record
GPO Access American Memory -- A Century of Lawmaking Thomas |
| Congressional Record Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report Congressional Quarterly Almanac | Congressional Vote |
LexisNexis Congressional
GPO Access American Memory --A Century of Lawmaking Thomas |
| Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
Public Papers of the Presidents Federal Register Serial Set Senate Documents (Y 1.1/3) House Documents (Y 1.1/7) |
Presidential Action |
LexisNexis Congressional
GPO Access American Memory -- A Century of Lawmaking EBSCOHOST National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) -- A Guide To Presidential Documents |
| U.S. Statutes at Large & Slip laws U.S. Code USCCAN |
Laws |
LexisNexis Congressional
GPO Access Thomas NARA |
| Federal Register
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) |
Regulations |
NARA LexisNexis Congressional GPO Access FindLaw |
| U.S. Reports & Slip Opinions
U.S. Supreme Court Reports Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States |
Judicial Review |
LexisNexis Congressional
GPO Access Supreme Court of the U.S. - Official site American Memory -- A Century of Lawmaking Supreme Court Decisions (Cornell) Oyez FindLaw Federal Courts Finder (Emory) Federal Court Locator (Villanova) |
| Congress and the Nation Congressional Quarterly Almanac Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report
Major Legislation of the Congress
Congressional Digest |
Analysis of Legislation |
LexisNexis Congressional -- Inside Washington |
| Tapping the Government Grapevine (Chapter 8)
Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process |
Legislative Process |
Thomas How A Bill Becomes A Law --Project Vote Smart LexisNexis Congressional -- From Bill To Law |
Randall Library Catalog - http://library.uncw.edu
Catalog of Government Publications
How to connect: Library Home Page > Databases & Articles > Click on C - CGP
WorldCat (UNCW only)
How to connect: Library Home Page > Databases & Articles > Click on W - WorldCat
Search to see if a legislative history already exists.
As a rule, federal publications are listed in the Library's catalog from 1990 - present. The Catalog of Government Publications lists and describes documents published from 1976- present. The Catalog of Government Publications is an excellent source for documents published before 1976. (See print resources) WorldCat also lists and describes federal documents, but unlike the Catalog of Government Publications, it does not always contain the official SUDOC call number. This number is needed to locate documents on the shelf.
LexisNexis Congressional (UNCW only)
How to connect: Library Home Page > Databases & Articles > Click on L > LexisNexis Congressional
LexisNexis Congressional indexes and abstracts Congressional publications back to 1970. LexisNexis Congressional contains Legislative Histories which pull together citations to various House and Senate reports, documents, hearings, Congressional debates, etc. on bills. LexisNexis Congressional includes full texts of bills, public laws, reports, documents and Congressional testimony back to about 1988 (coverage varies).
Material can be searched in a variety of ways bill number, P.L. number, subject, witness name or affiliation, report or document number, and Congressional committee. This database also provides full text access to the voting records of members of Congress (100th Cong - ) U.S. Code, the Federal Register, (1980 - ) and the Code of Federal Regulations. For an analysis of legislation click on the Inside Washington and the Hot Bills/Topics sections. The LexisNexis Academic - Legal Research section of the database provides full text access to Supreme Court cases and other federal case law.
Thomas http://thomas.loc.gov/
Contains searchable bill summaries & status information back to 1975 and full texts of bills back to 1989. Searchable by keyword, subject, sponsor, bill number, etc. Thomas also provides full text access to committee reports (104th Cong - ) and to committee home pages, to congressional debate and roll call votes (101st Cong - ), and to public laws (93rd Cong - ). Contains a detailed section on How Congress Makes Laws.
GPO Access http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/db2.html
The information provided on this site is the official, published version and can be retrieved without charge and without restriction unless specifically noted. Bill status system dates back to 1993 from the Government Printing Office. Keyword & bill number searchable. Has votes on bills. GPO Access also contains online, full text versions of the Congressional Record, public laws, committee prints, and hearings and Public Papers of the President. The Federal Register and the U.S. Code are also available full text through GPO Access. Most GPO Access databases contain data published no earlier than 1994.
American Memory - Library of Congress - A Century of Lawmaking For a New Nation
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html
Contains full text for congressional documents published from 1774-1873. Includes the Journals of Congress, Debates of Congress, Annals of Congress, Register of Debates, Congressional Globe, U.S. Serial Set (selected full text), U.S. Statutes At Large, and bills and resolutions (selected full text).
Project Vote Smart - http://www.vote-smart.org
The Issues and Legislation - Congress Track section has information on the status of current key legislation and recent key votes of members of Congress. The Political Resources - U.S. Government Basics section contains information on the legislative process and more. See How a Bill Becomes a Law.
The White House official website - http://www.whitehouse.gov
Provides full text access to Executive Orders and Proclamations issued by the current president.
The Supreme Court official website - http://www.supremecourtus.gov
Provides full text access to recent (2001- ) Supreme Court opinions as well as lists of cases that will be heard by the Court during the current term. Full text access to merit briefs for current term cases is also available. For other sites that provide access to Supreme Court opinions try FindLaw at http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html for full text decisions issued from 1893 - (most comprehensive), FedWorld at http://www.fedworld.gov/supcourt/index.htm for full text decisions issued between 1937 and 1975.
See also the Legal Information Institute (Cornell University) at http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/supremes.htm The Oyez Project (Northwestern University) at http://oyez.nwu.edu provides access to selected oral arguments for Supreme Court cases back to 1961.
For cases and opinions issued from other federal courts try Federal Courts Finder (Emory University) at http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS, Federal Court Locator (Villanova) at http://vls.law.vill.edu/Locator/fedcourt.html and FindLaw at http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/index.html#federal. Also located at FindLaw are the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) http://www.archives.gov
Provides access to the Federal Register (1994- ), Code of Federal Regulations (1996- ), Presidential Documents (dates vary), and Public Laws (104th Congress - )
PRINT RESOURCES
Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications Index Z1223 .A18 (1940-1996)
This resource is helpful in searching to see if a legislative history already exists particularly when searching for legislation proposed or enacted before 1976.
CIS Annual 1970-1997 Index KF49 .C62
The CIS Annual also has two cumulative annual volumes one an index, the other a compilation of abstracts of the documents. Starting in 1984 a third annual volume was added indexing legislative histories. Documents can be located by bill number, Public Law number, report number, subject, title, or author. Abstracts are listed by committee.
U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) 1984 to 1997 Ref. KF63 .U5
Both the monthly advance sheets and the bound volumes contain a legislative history table which lists for each public law: date approved, Statutes at Large citation, bill and report numbers, committees that recommended the bill, and dates of consideration and passage in the House and Senate. USCCAN contains the texts of all Public Laws and selected Committee Reports.
Serial Set- 1965- Docs U.S. Y 1.1/2:
The U.S. Serial Set, compiled under direction of the Government Printing Office, is an on going collection of congressional publications including House and Senate reports & documents. Hearings are not included in the Serial Set. The Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes (Docs U.S. GP 3.7/2:) and The U.S. Serial Set Catalog (Docs U.S. GP 3.34:) can be used to determine which volume of the Serial Set contains specific reports and documents. Some selected full text of older volumes of the Serial Set are available on the American Memory website.
CQ Weekly Report UNCW Periodicals 1970 - present
CQ Almanac Ref. JK1 .C66 v.14 (1958) - present
CQ contains summaries of Congressional (and other federal government) activities, status of major legislation, lists of recently passed public laws, and analyses of important legislative issues. Particularly useful for tracking complex legislation that involves numerous amendments or researching the political background of legislation.
Congressional Digest UNCW Periodicals v.50 (1971) - present
Each issue covers a different topic with pros and cons and a bibliography. Provides an excellent overview on congressional trends and issues.
Major Legislation of the Congress Gov. Docs LC 14.18: 1979-1992 Provides summaries of Congressional issues and major legislation introduced in response to these issues.
Congress and the Nation Ref. JK1021 .C64 1965-2001
Provides a broad overview of the work of Congress since 1965. Is useful in researching broad trends such as environment, health care and welfare.
Congressional Record
Contains the debate of considered federal legislation between congressmen and senators on the floor of the House of Representatives and the Senate. It also contains presidential messages to Congress dealing with legislation ( i.e. reasons for a veto). Randall Library has the Congressional Record and it's various other titles in the following formats and locations:
Congressional Record
Full text on GPO Access 1994- present with a historical index 1983-2000
Full text on LexisNexis Congressional from 1985 (99th Congress)- present 1939 (76th Congress) - present U.S. Docs. X 1.1: 1873 (43rd Congress) - 1967 (90th Congress) Filed with serials microfilm under United States.
Congressional Record Index "History of Bills and Resolutions" section
This status table appears in the bi weekly index issues of the daily Congressional Record and is cumulated for the entire session in the bound annual index volume. The arrangement is by bill number, with the title and action noted, and a reference to the Congressional Record page on which the record of the action can be found. A bill number will appear in the bi weekly index only if the bill has been acted upon during those two weeks; if listed, however, all previous actions for that session will be recorded.
Congressional Globe
1833 (23rd Congress) - 1873 (42d Congress) Filed with serials microfilm under United States. See also the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website.
U.S. Register of Debates in Congress
1824 (19th Congress) - 1837 (25th Congress) Filed with serials microfilm under United States. See also the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website.
U.S.Debates and Proceedings of Congress
1st Congress- 18th Congress. Filed with serials microfilm under United States. See also the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website.
U.S. Statutes at Large
Ref KF50 .A2 v.70 (1956 - present)
Ref Microfiche KF50 .A2 v.1 (1789) - v.77 (1963)
Full text in GPO Access 104th Congress - present
Full text in Congressional Universe 1988 - present
Full text at the American Memory website 1789-1873
The U.S. Statutes at Large contains all laws passed by Congress. Each volume represents a session of Congress. Laws are arranged within each volume by public or private law number. Therefore, the laws are arranged in chronological order rather than by subject. Each volume does contain a subject index. Beginning in 1963, a brief legislative history is inserted after some laws.
Digest of Public General Bills Gov. Docs. LC 14.6: 1965 (89th Congress) - 1989 (101st Congress)
This resource is particularly helpful at Randall Library when doing research on older legislation. Information is arranged by House and Senate bill number for each session of Congress. It describes the purpose and content of each bill. The later volumes also contain a subject index and a section on public laws passed.
Congressional Hearings and Committee Prints Gov Docs. Y4 1965(89th Congress) - present
These are arranged on the shelf by Congressional committee. See also the LexisNexis Congressional and GPO Access for the full text version of a limited number for these hearings and prints.
Committees In the U.S. Congress, 1789-1946 Ref. JK1029 .C64 2002
Documents the existence, the workings and the members of Congressional committees dating back to 1789.
Senate Documents
Docs. U.S. Y 1.1/3: 1989(101st Congress 2nd Session) - present
Docs. U.S. Microfiche Y 1.1/3: 1979 (96th Congress 2nd Session - 1989 (101st Congress 1st Sess.)
Some of these publications are also available in the Serial Set and full text in the LexisNexis Congressional from 1988. Selected full text can be found at the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website 1789-1873.
Senate Reports
Docs U.S. Y 1.1/5: 1989(101st Congress 2nd Session)- present
Docs. U.S. Microfiche Y 1.1/5: 1979 (96th Congress 2nd Session) 1989 (101st Cong. 2nd Sess.)
See also the Serial Set and the LexisNexis Congressional for full text from 1988 and the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website for selected full text until 1873.
Senate Bills
Docs. U.S. Microfiche Y 1.4/1: 1989(101st Congress) - 2000(106th Congress 2nd Session)
Use the Cumulative Finding Aid for Congressional Bills and Resolutions to find the microfiche copy of these bills. It is shelved at Docs. U.S. GP 3.28:100/2. For the full text versions of these bills see the LexisNexis Congressional , Thomas or GPO Access. For selected full text until 1873 see the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website.
House Documents
Docs U.S. y 1.1/7: 1989 (101st Congress 2nd Session) - present
Docs. U.S. Microfiche 1981 (97th Congress 2nd Session) - 1989 (101st Cong. 2nd Sess)
See also the Serial Set and the LexisNexis Congressional for full text from 1988 and the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website for selected full text until 1873.
House Reports
Docs U.S. Y 1.1/8: 1989(101st Congress 2nd Session) - present
Docs U.S. Microfiche Y 1.1/8 : 1979 (96th Cong 1st Session) - 1989(101st Cong. 2nd Sess.)
See also the Serial Set and the LexisNexis Congressional for full text from 1988 and the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website for selected full text until 1873.
House Bills
Docs U.S. Microfiche Y 1.4/6: 1989(101st Congress 2nd Session- 2000(106th Cong. 2nd Sess)
Use the Cumulative Finding Aid for Congressional Bills and Resolutions to find the microfiche copy of these bills. It is shelved at Docs. U.S. GP 3.28: 100/2.
For full text versions of these bills online see the LexisNexis Congressional , Thomas, or GPO Access and for selected full text for materials until 1873 see the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website.
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
Docs U. S. AE 2.109: v.15 (1979)-
Microfilm v.1 (1965) - v.14 (1978)
These publications contain the full text of presidential communications to Congress, speeches, news conferences, executive orders, proclamations, nominations and appointments. Communications to Congress are also printed in the Congressional Record.
For limited online, full text versions of these publications, see GPO Access and EBSCOHOST. Presidential messages are also sometimes printed as House or Senate documents. For these, see the Serial Set, the LexisNexis Congressional database, or the American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov/) website. Senate and House documents are also available individually in the Documents Collection.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. General Collection J82
U.S. Code Ref. KF 62 Date .A2
Contains public laws currently in effect, arranged by topic.
United States Reports, Slip Opinions & Preliminary Reports Ref. KF101 .A19
The official edition of non-annotated opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court arranged by term and docket number.
U.S. Supreme Court Reports Lawyers Edition Ref. KF101 .A31
In this "unofficial" annotated edition, case summaries are included. Also provides cross references to the official version citations.
Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States
General Collection KF101.9 .L36
Contains copies of attorney's briefs submitted to the Court and transcripts of attorney's oral arguments heard by the Court pertaining to landmark cases dating back to 1793. Provides useful background information on Court opinions.
Federal Register Gov. Docs. Microfiche AE 2.106 1986-
Contains presidential documents (executive orders and proclamations) and the rules, regulations and notices of federal departments and agencies that have legal implications (administrative law).
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Ref. KF70 .A2
Contains federal regulations arranged by topic.
Oleszek, Walter J. Congressional procedures and the policy process, 1996.
General Collection JK1096 .O43 1996
Thorough analysis of the workings of Congress written in lay terms. Discusses the "politicking " behind passing legislation.
Robinson, Judith Schiek. Tapping the Government Grapevine: the user-friendly guide to U.S. Government information sources, 1988.
Ref. J83 .R633 1988
Chapter 8 describes the legislative process thoroughly and refers the reader to other publications that may be helpful.
Last Update: February 13, 2008
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